A minimum of 2 days attendance ensures children access the Kindergarten program for 15 hours each week; this operates in conjunction with wrap around child care from 7am to 6pm.

The Kindergarten Program is accessed in line with the teacher's weekly roster (displayed at the centre).

The Kindergarten Program is available 48 weeks of the year.

Two sit down parent / teacher catch-ups are scheduled across the year, while a 'Transition Statement' will be provided for children moving onto Prep.

Please refer to the attachment below, "Funded Kindergarten Program Statement of Fees", for further information.

The program and practices of the Approved Kindergarten Program are guided by the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines.

This is an exciting educational program, engaging children naturally in our well resourced environment. Our teacher aims to lay firm foundations for successful life long learning. As in all our rooms, active participation is encouraged and supported. The physical size of this room is much larger than the prescribe regulation requirement.

We are really proud of the program run by our Kindergarten Teacher. She and her assistant educators work hard each day at individually planning for your child. She observes them as they engage naturally in our environment, facilitating their interests, needs and strengths, and then works to these to prepare your child for ongoing learning. Our teacher knows where your child is going on their education journey. She has been a teacher in schools, so knows and understands the skills essential to meet the next step.

Our teacher believes in developing the whole child, emotionally, socially, academically, creatively and physically in an environment where children feel safe, secure and supported. She believes that children learn, remember, understand and perform in many different ways. With this in mind she believes it is imperative to ensure children are provided with different opportunities to learn in a variety of ways to ensure all children’s learning styles are catered for.

Through engagement within the kindergarten program we aim to challenge children’s thinking to manipulate ideas in ways that transform their meaning and understanding. This allows children to activate their higher-order thinking and encourages children to further question and construct knowledge on a higher level and understanding. We encourage children to be involved learners within the classroom and provide input about their interests to create a child initiated and therefore engaging program.

As all children are different, the program is designed to cater for each child’s individual needs. Daily we gather individual and group observations. From these, goals and activities are developed, based on developmental needs and personal interests. These goals and activities are implemented into the daily curriculum. Play or discovery based programs offer children the opportunity to explore and discover at their own pace. Our role as educators is to offer engaging and varied opportunities for discovery and to extend children’s knowledge as they learn new things.

When developing the program for the Red Room, our early childhood teacher considers many factors. These include:

The individual needs of each child

The observed interests of the group

The needs of children as they move into formal schooling

The guidelines of the National Framework – The Early Years Learning Framework.

The Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines

The Continua of Learning and Development (QLD Kindergarten learning guideline companion)

Our classroom is calming and inviting, where each individual contributes to the harmonious atmosphere. A place where educators work collaboratively; children have the opportunity to develop in familiar surroundings; learning is personally meaningful and fun and laughter is always encouraged.

Celeste & Leah

﻿Celeste joined Carina Heights Child Care & Development in 2014, with a Bachelor of Primary Education (with honours) that she completed in 2009 at QUT and a Diploma of Children's Services (Early Childhood Education and Care) which she finished in 2013. She also completed a Graduate Diploma in Psychology (with honours) in 2010 at QUT. Celeste holds Provisional Registration with the Queensland College of Teachers and has knowledge across the Australian Curriculum, the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines and the Early Years Learning Framework. Over the previous four years Celeste has gained experience providing care and education to children ranging from infancy to teenage years as she has worked casually in schools across Brisbane in the primary sector and has also worked as a family day care provider. In her classroom the emphasis is placed on building strong, supportive relationships with all the children and their respective families and providing meaningful interactions as this approach is renowned for promoting positive learning and development. Celeste aims to encourage the children to achieve their personal goals by providing learning experiences﻿ that are based on the children’s emerging needs, interests and talents and by implementing creative teaching strategies that excite and motivate the children to learn. She understands the importance of, respect for and sensitivity to a diverse range of religious and cultural backgrounds and the significance of integrating these into learning experiences. Celeste has a clear focus on encouraging children’s literacy and numeracy development, but above all she is passionate about life-long learning and strives to be a positive role model for the children in this way. She welcomes open communication and the opportunity to learn and grow from the diverse knowledge, understandings and skills provided by each child, their families and her professional colleagues and peers within the community.﻿﻿​

Leah joined Carina Heights Child Care & Development in 2004. Before this she worked as a teachers' aide in the state school system for four years. Initially joining Carina Heights as a float (working between rooms), her skills and professionalism were recognised when she was asked to take on the yellow room lead educator role in 2008, where she remained until 2015 before moving to the green room. 2016 sees Leah move to the red room as she studies her Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. Leah holds both a Diploma and Certificate 3 in Children's Services and a Certified Supervisor certificate. She enjoys this age group and believes one of her roles is to ensure the children are happy and healthy. Leah wants the children to feel comfortable and a sense of belonging in the room; whilst encouraging the children to explore the environment and provide lots of interesting play based activities. As a mother herself, Leah is always mindful of how important the task of caring for someone else's children really is. She is dedicated to providing quality care for the children in her room.